Xbox Series X hardware will reportedly power xCloud servers in 2021

Microsoft is reportedly planning to upgrade its xCloud servers to Xbox Series X hardware in 2021.

The cloud gaming service will launch later this year powered by Xbox One S consoles in server blades, but next year’s upgrade to Series X will provide a significant performance boost, according to The Verge.

This will reportedly include the ability to run four Xbox One S game sessions simultaneously and a video encoder that’s up to six times faster than the existing one.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in April that xCloud had hundreds of thousands of users in its current preview form.

At launch later this year, it’s expected to let users stream Xbox games they already own from the cloud, as well as Xbox Game Pass titles.

And The Verge has backed up a previous report claiming Microsoft is working on a feature that will also allow users to stream PC games across xCloud.

In theory, it could let users stream PC games to their Xbox console and play them in the living room.

Around 100 games are currently available through xCloud, with recent additions including Ori and the Will of the Wisps and Batman: Arkham Knight.

Further reading

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Microsoft reveals how Xbox game streaming will work on PC

xCloud being tested by Microsoft employees